


Semper Excelsior

by kekke3000



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Epilogue, Post-The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo), Post-The Trials of Apollo, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27951128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kekke3000/pseuds/kekke3000
Summary: Note: please have read / know what happens in the Trials of Apollo - (spoilers for the Burning Maze and Tyrant's Tomb are in here!)Post TOA Epilogue // Reyna visits the grave of an old friend.
Relationships: Jason Grace & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace/Piper McLean
Kudos: 13





	Semper Excelsior

It was near sunset when Reyna finally made it to the border. On the horizon, the sky was fading into its usual patchwork of cloudy pinks and golds, the evening light illuminating the hill looming in front of her. _There really is nothing like a California summer_ , she thought wistfully. For a moment, she paused to take it in, but then shook herself and started up the path, quickening her pace. It had taken Reyna longer than she expected to settle the other Hunters at their camp, and now she was later than she wanted to be. The fast pace didn’t deter her - by now, this route was second nature, as familiar as the scars that lined the palms of her hands - and she navigated deftly around the rocks and obstacles that lined the trail. Even though it had been months since she last visited, it felt like yesterday.

Off in the distance, a horn sounded. Reyna started for a moment, then realized. It was Saturday, and the legion was doubtless preparing for another War Games. Briefly, she wondered what teams the cohorts had been assigned. If only for old times’ sake, she hoped the Third and the Fifth were together.

It was odd, Reyna thought, to be so close and yet so far from camp. She could be there in 15 minutes if she wanted to, but that wasn’t her place anymore, or even her home. She had met briefly with the current praetors a few months back, letting them know that the Hunt had dealt with the chimera attacks on the coast, but she never stayed long. After all, there was no one from her time there anymore.

Gwen’s son had joined up recently, she knew. Her old friend had stayed in New Rome, but as the years went on, even those bonds faded slightly. With a pang, she realized that she hadn’t seen Gwen since three winters ago. For her, the seasons blurred together, but for Gwen, it would have been several years. Nowadays, she thought, it was hard to keep track of the old crowd.

 _The old crowd._ As the horns sounded again, memories of the friends she had all those years ago rose unbidden to Reyna’s mind as she hurried up the hill. They were still in touch, of course, but life had taken them different directions, and the old traditions had fallen by the wayside. In the first year or so after the wars, they had all made an effort to visit the grave regularly, but as time went on, Reyna was the only one who still made the trip. Leo had come often in the beginning, but he and Calypso had started traveling the world, and a few decades later, they were still on the move. Piper, too, had gone into demigod retirement early, and it was easy to see that she was content with her peaceful life. Certainly, she had been too good for what the war had thrown at her, Reyna thought. Her peace was well earned.

Hazel and Frank had moved to Canada, where their gentle souls and strong leadership had been welcomed. They too had a family of their own, and Reyna had little doubt that generations of Zhangs would continue to serve the legion. Nico and Will, still as contrary as ever, were happy too. It was probably good, she reflected, that the son of Hades no longer felt as bound to the dead as he had when they had traveled together. He had told her about his first sister, Bianca, and how she wanted him to move on. She would be proud of him now.

That left Percy and Annabeth. A faint smile came to her as she thought of them, just as in love as they had been back then. They were the stuff of legend, of course, and every new generation of campers dreamed of being like them. They had given their friends so much to celebrate after the war – their wedding (a faun named Grover had been best man, and Leo had led the attendees in dancing until the sun rose), Annabeth’s masters degree, the birth of their children – and deep down, Reyna thanked the gods that if anyone got a happily ever after, it was them. After all they had been through, they deserved it.

There were others of course – Leila, who had gone to art school in Chicago; Hank, who had cried the day he graduated the legion; Bobby and Dakota, who hadn’t had the chance to visit for long before they too, found themselves on funeral pyres. Countless others – good legionnaires, whom she and Jason had fought with – had been covered with shrouds during that last war, but the ones who had survived had kept his legacy alive. Dozens of new monuments to the forgotten gods dotted Temple Hill, and decades later, the camps were still in contact, just as he wanted them to be. Even in death, Jason had led them.

Jason. The name brought up so many emotions within her, and all these years later, Reyna could picture him just as he had been days before he died – tall and serious, like the praetor he once was, but also as compassionate and kind as the day they had met. She had missed the closeness they had during the Second Titan War, before they ever knew of Camp Half Blood, when they had quested together, fought together, and served together, and he had too. His disappearance and the events of the Prophecy of Seven had separated them for a time, but in the months after Gaea was defeated, they had become each other’s confidant once again. With Leo missing, Jason's relationship with Piper faltering, and Pontifex duties taking shape, they had found their way back to each other. After the war, Jason had spent many a night playing with Aurum and Argentum while Reyna finished paperwork, and many mornings getting coffee with her after sparring before the sun came up. Camp had talked, of course, but it was never anything more than friendship, and they had both been glad for that. There was solace, after all, in finding your best friend again.

The light was going quickly, and Reyna pressed onward. She was close now. A few more minutes and she would be the top of the hill, where the shrines to camp’s fallen were. Only the greatest heroes were given small monuments there, and in the relative peace that had come after she and Jason had led the camp through the Titan war, the giant war, and the battle with the Triumvirate, it had been neglected in recent years. Only a couple plaques had been added since she had made Jason’s monument decades ago, and she was glad for that. It was hard to see your friends die.

It was something she was learning, as a Hunter. In the 30 years since she had left the legion, Reyna hadn’t aged a day. Even now, she looked no older than sixteen, while her friends were well into middle age. In a few decades, they too, would pass on, while Reyna would stay, frozen in time. She had learned from the other Hunters that after so many years, it was easy to forget how fragile life really was, and that haunted her. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she did not want to forget them - she did not want to let their deaths, or their lives, fade into memory. For three decades now, she had visited Jason’s tomb each year, and although it wasn’t enough to fill the gaping hole his death had left and it would have been easier to shut it out, she had sworn to never forget. As she mourned him, she resolved to mourn the others as well, when their time came. The truth was that immortality was a long time, but if you tried, love could last that long, too.

Finally, she made it. The sun was well on its way to setting now, and the willow tree under which Jason’s shrine lay cast dappled shadows across the ground. It was a simple monument, as he would have wanted. Reyna bent down, and reaching out, she brushed off the leaves that had covered it. The inscription gleamed silvery in the fading light, as bright as it had when she had carved it all those years ago.

_Jason Grace, July 1994 – March 2011_

_Centurion of the Fifth cohort, Praetor of the 12 th Legion Fulminata, and Pontifex Maximus_

_Son of Jupiter, champion of Juno, and hero of Rome_

_Semper excelsior_

_Semper excelsior_ – ever higher. After all this time, it was still fitting. A moment passed, and she knelt and put her hand on the tombstone. “Hey Jason.” Her voice cracked. Silently, Reyna willed herself to be strong. “Happy birthday.”

For a few minutes, she stayed there, alone in the quiet as the evening fell and the sun dipped below the horizon. Finally, with effort, she stood, taking one last look at the tombstone. Her gaze caught on the only remnant of her visit - the wildflowers she had brought for him from the Wolf House. Their purple hue gleamed in the fading light, the only sign that she had been there. 

Then Reyna turned, and set off into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic ever. I just wanted to do a quick one shot, so any constructive criticism would be appreciated! Thank you!


End file.
